


Game Over

by Skymelody14



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Gen, Heavy Angst, I make Jeremy suffer for 10 chapters, I think that's what I'd call this, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jeremy fixes his mistakes, Lots of hurt and little comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Redo AU?, Second Chances, Temporary Character Death, its gonna be a wild ride
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:39:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skymelody14/pseuds/Skymelody14
Summary: After Christine drinks the Mountain Dew Red, Jeremy finds himself in an empty purgatory where his only company is the words Game Over and his only option is to Try Again. He finds himself back on the night of the Halloween Party. Every time he tries to fix what he did wrong and every time he gets the same message.Game OverHe isn't sure how many times he can try again





	1. C

**Author's Note:**

> This starts directly after Jeremy tells Christine to drink the Mountain Dew at the end of The Play

CHAPTER 1

“Drink this”

Christine immediately downed the Mountain Dew Red, her hair falling away from her face as she threw her head back. The heavy relief Jeremy felt was immediately washed away by immense pain, a sharp stabbing in the back of his head, and he barely registered the screams of every other student around him before he fell to his knees in agony. He was sure he heard his own scream among them, and he clutched his head as he dropped, digging his nails into his scalp. And yet, as soon as he crumpled to the floor, the wave of pain subsided as quickly as it had arrived. He was met with a thick and stifling blackness all around him, the play and pain and panic swept away in a curtain of darkness and an eerie silence. 

Okay, that was definitely not normal. 

Jeremy reached up to his face to wipe away tears he hadn’t noticed falling, pushing against the ground and standing on unbalanced legs. He held out his arms for a moment as he was almost swept over once more by a tidal wave of dizziness and nausea. Once the ground beneath him felt solid, he took a moment to examine his surroundings. Well, he would’ve if there were any surroundings to examine in the first place. “Am I dead?” he mused quietly after a moment of contemplation. He paused in consideration before hastily deciding, or hoping really, that he was not, in fact, dead. And if he was in the afterlife, it was boring as hell. Well, that was kind of a dark comparison considering the circumstances. So, he wasn’t dead, but that still didn’t clue him towards where he was or what the hell had happened. He turned in a semicircle in the sea of darkness cloaking him, pausing as his eyes caught a flash of light a fair distance away from him. 

Maybe he really was dead.

Despite his, considerably poor, best judgement, he began to make his way to said light, all sense of caution out the window by that point anyways. This is dumb, he thought indignantly. Then he realized that the insult came from himself rather than the Squip, and allowed himself a moment to appreciate that before continuing forward. As he approached the otherworldly glow, he began to make out the contour of words floating in the blackness, their pure white color giving the illusion of light in comparison to the deep black everywhere else. He took pause as he finally made out the words.

G A M E O V E R  
Try again?  
“Alright, I’m actually worried now,” he muttered to himself, stopping a few yards from the strangely menacing words. Briefly, he half-wished he had his demented supercomputer to make some sense of whatever the fuck was going on. He quickly dismissed that once he remembered that his supercomputer was probably the cause of this in the first place, and wished that Michael was there instead. 

Game Over. Now, what the fuck did that mean?

He must have actually died. And now he was living in some video-game purgatory where he would live out the rest of his miserable afterlife. Then again. 

Try Again.

Maybe he wasn’t so stuck after all. This could have been God’s form of taking pity on him, allowing to fix the many, many things he did wrong. There was a long list. Jeremy stared down the floating words, his brows furrowing in determination. He reached towards the try again with outstretched palms, the glow of the letters lighting up his skin. And then he pressed down.

R E S P A W N I N G I N 3… 2… 1…


	2. O

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempt #1
> 
> Jeremy tries to fix his thing with Brooke. That goes surprisingly well, it's just everything else that goes wrong.

Jeremy found himself staring at the massive walls of Jake’s house, the overgrown lawn glowing from light spilling through the windows and the pulsating beat of the music obvious from blocks away pounding through his entire body. The once enticing aura of a high school party seemed menacing in hindsight now that he was aware of the consequences it would inevitably lead to. It somehow made sense that the strange purgatory death screen had led him here. The Halloween party seemed to be the catalyst that led to the near-destruction, maybe actual destruction, of his entire school. Maybe this was a way to stop everything that came after the party. He stalled a few yards from the entrance, dread twisting in the pit of his stomach. The pounding of the bass only served to aid a growing headache, along with the stress of whatever the hell had just happened. 

Maybe this party was like, an objective or something. If he could fix all the bullshit here he could fix all the bullshit later, right? So he just had to avoid almost sleeping with Chloe and breaking Brooke’s heart, destroying his friendship with Michael, and ruining any of his chances with Christine. Then he could hopefully get Mountain Dew Red from Michael and get it to Rich before the whole thing went down in flames. Literally. 

“Wow,” he muttered, “piece of cake.”

“Jeremy!” someone called from within the party, the door flung open before him and he was met face to face with Brooke Lohst. “I was afraid you weren’t coming. Did you get my messages?” Jeremy stared blankly at Brooke, hardly registering her question. Panic began to claw its way uninvited up his throat as he truly started to grasp what he had to pull off. “Jeremy? Are you okay?”

Jeremy opened his mouth to reply but paused further as he tensely noticed his Squip’s abnormal radio silence. For a moment, the familiar fear of cordial conversation threatened to overwhelm him. For as much as his discount Keanu Reeves had done to him and his peers, confronting a social situation without his supercomputer crutch did nothing to soothe his anxieties. Then again, that would make his whole school-saving mission easier. And he could start by fixing the mess with Brooke. “Uhh- sorry Brooke, I totally didn’t even notice I was late,” he stuttered, wincing at the familiar hesitancy in his voice. Brooke’s eyebrows furrowed at each hitch in his words, clearly noting his previously common social incompetency. 

“Are you drunk already?” she queried, the only sign of judgement being the slight raise in her eyebrows. He shrugged noncommittally, and she let out a tense sigh. “Whatever. Nothing a few more beers can’t fix,” she muttered, half to Jeremy and half to herself. He couldn’t tell if the tautness in her shoulders was more regret or worry. “Oh! What do you think of my costume?” she questioned, a bit of the tension rising, “I figured, you always see sexy cats, but no one ever goes as a sexy dog.” Jeremy looked her up and down, quietly deciding that people didn’t go as sexy dogs because dogs really weren’t sexy. But Brooke was smiling despite that, and while there was no hint of insecurity in her brazen costume, there was plenty in her face. 

“I kind of love it,” he lied through his teeth. He figured the small untruth was worth the risk as the insecurity in Brooke’s face lessened, and her slightly forced smile grew slightly more real. He prayed tersely that this really was the point of what had happened. Then he decided that it didn’t matter either way. Being less of an asshole seemed positive no matter what the scenario. Brooke was nice, well she was nicer than Chloe at least. 

“Chloe said it was dumb,” Brooke muttered, a flash of hurt crossing her face. He frowned briefly at that, seems that Chloe was as much of a bitch as he thought she was. “Hey, nerd, get your head out of the clouds,” Brooke joked as she caught wind of Jeremy’s spaciness, knocking her shoulder lightly with his, “Save the deep contemplation for after the alcohol.” She wrapped her hand around his wrist, pulling him through the door to the house and into the harsh artificial lights of the house party. They slid through the mass of the crowd, Brooke’s grip on his wrist growing sweaty in the fever of the house. Jeremy found himself drawn away from everything except her grasp, the sting of her nails digging into his arm an anchor to the surreality of… everything. 

As Jeremy was pulled past the partygoers, he passed over Jake and Christine without a second glance, promising to himself that he’d get there eventually. He glimpsed Chloe glaring in his direction, but he didn’t get a chance to decipher the darkness in her glare before he was yanked into the kitchen. He pushed it to the back of his mind, where almost everything was seeming to reside, and focused his attention back on Brooke, whose arms were outstretched wide to show off the surplus of liquor bottles behind her. “And here we are! The true treasure of the party, the booze,” Brooke quipped, a small, anxious grin on her face. Jeremy chuckled quietly as a sign of approval, resulting in a giggle of her own. She tucked a strand of thick blonde hair behind her headband, flicking one of the connected cloth ears out of her face with an exasperated huff. After a moment of deliberation, she briskly poured some cheap, shitty beer into a red solo cup, handing it over with a shrug. Jeremy looked down into the muddy brown liquid, taking it from Brooke’s outstretched hand and smiling shyly. He glanced into the drink in his hands, noting to himself that drinking might be a poor idea to drink. With his whole second chance thing he should probably keep a clear head. 

“Fuck it,” he murmured, looking back to Brooke’s hesitant expression and lifting the cup to his lips. “Bottoms up,” he muttered, throwing his head back and chugging the beer. Brooke chuckled lightly, taking her own cup and downing it as well. They both lowered their cups and made eye contact, faces already lightly flushed from the liquor. 

“Hey,” Brooke murmured quietly, her brown eyes sparkling, “Thanks. For like, coming here and stuff.” He hummed in response, and she took it as a sign to continue. “I really appreciate like, hanging with you I guess. You’re pretty chill,” she admitted sheepishly. Jeremy struggled to hide his wince at the word but smiled nonetheless, if not a bit awkwardly. She sighed quietly, looking down to her hands and chuckling lightly. “It’s just, things with Chloe have sucked lately, you know. She’s been weird I don’t know. I really want to talk to her about it but I’m not sure how.” She sniffled and set her drink down, leaning back against the counter and running one hand over her face. “Sorry to drop this all on you. I had a drink earlier, I think I’m getting kind of tipsy.” Jeremy nodded knowingly, throwing his empty cup onto the table in front of him and smiling genuinely. 

“You should talk to her you know. She cares about you,” he offered, “maybe more than anybody else.” She blinked at him with a blank expression, before dropping her head down and sighing. Her smile was lighter when she looked back up. 

“Wow,” she whispered, “I really need another drink.” She quickly turned away from Jeremy, refilling her cup and chugging it once again. Her face screwed up at the burn of the alcohol, but her shoulders loosened up even more and she grinned through the bitterness. “Yeah, that’s much better,” she determined, pouring herself yet another drink and pausing to fill up his once more and pass it over to him. He mumbled his thanks under his breath. She waved him off with one hand, and he took that as a cue to begin to migrate away from her. She didn’t seem to notice in her growingly drunken haze. He had just exited the kitchen when a sharp voice caught his attention. 

“Hey, Jerry.” He immediately recognized the insulting tone and turned slowly around towards Chloe. Her dark hair was pulled into a crude ponytail, and the fire in her blue eyes was clear from alcohol. He recognized a spark of jealousy in her glare.

“Jeremy,” he corrected, eyeing her critically. She scoffed in lieu of a response, pushing strands of hair out of her face and crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Whatever,” she growled, “I’m supposed to get you for Brooke. She has a surprise.” Jeremy raised an eyebrow in disbelief, glancing back to the kitchen and then back to Chloe.

“Of course she does. Then again, I could’ve sworn I just left her in the kitchen,” he retorted, taking satisfaction in the flash of panic that crossed Chloe’s face as he caught her in the act. An unidentifiable look replaced it as she looked towards the kitchen.

“Well damn,” she muttered, “you caught me. Now what.” 

Jeremy merely shrugged, taking a sip of the alcohol in his hands and motioning towards the kitchen with his head. “Go talk to Brooke. She misses you,” he supplied, moving away from Chloe before he could catch her comeback. He passed through the main chaos of the party with haste, bending around couples hooking up and being smacked in the face by rogue arms more than a few times. He eventually emerged on the other side, coming face to face with the bathroom door he knew withheld Michael. Knowing this would be the easiest part of the plan, he eagerly threw open the door, moving towards the shower and throwing open the curtain. 

“Michael!... isn’t here.” He looked around the bathroom in confusion, noting the empty beer bottles in the corner and the absence of his best friend. Well, maybe his ex-best friend now. God, that was depressing. He turned on one heel, hastily dropping his cup in the trash can near the door before grabbing both edges of the door frame and peering out of it, looking both ways and seeing no sign of Michael. “God damn it,” he hissed. 

“Seriously! Where the fuck can I get some Mountain Dew Red?”

Shit. That was definitely not good. How had this fallen apart so quickly? He pushed his way briskly back through the crowd, stopping a few yards from a frantic looking Jake, whose hands were pressed on either side of Rich’s shoulders. He only caught a glimpse of Rich’s crazed look before he broke away from Jake, vanishing into the horde of high school students. “Rich!,” Jeremy cried, running up to Jake and taking in his panicked expression. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Jake questioned. A loud crash interrupted Jeremy’s answer, screams of terror erupting from the area where Rich had vanished. Flames came licking across the carpet, sending students scrambling in every direction. Jeremy was pushed along with the crowd until he made it through the back door, falling onto the damp grass. He watched red and orange flames engulf the living room through the window, and the world around him shifted to black as screams of terror slowly faded out around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is Chapter 2 finally done. Sorry, it took me a bit to update, I wasn't entirely sure what direction I wanted to go with each chapter but I think I have it figured out now. 
> 
> So this chapter definitely had a bigger focus on Brooke, which wasn't my plan but I'm totally cool with. I'm not sure that I nailed her characterization just yet but I'm pretty happy with how she panned out here. I think I have a pretty good grasp on Jeremy's and Chloe's characters but if you think they're lacking anything just let me know, I'm totally open to feedback. 
> 
> There will definitely be a different focus on different characters for each chapter, this one just happened to end up being mostly pinkberry. I think this did end up being slightly shippy with Chloe and Brooke, which I am not at all opposed to. Let me know if you think it's enough to add a tag for it.
> 
> Anyways, that's Chapter 2 complete. Let me know your thoughts/feedback/suggestions, etc. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story idea I've had bouncing around in my head for forever. And I had no idea how to write it until I realized it would be a perfect Be More Chill AU. So here we are! 
> 
> I'm aware that this chapter is super short, it's just meant to be the introduction to the story and to set the scene for what will happen next. The next chapter will be a lot longer. 
> 
> I probably won't update this super frequently so just keep that in mind, but I'll do what I can to update as often as possible. I haven't started chapter 2 yet but I plan to do that this weekend. I don't often write multi-chaptered stuff so it'll take me a bit to get a schedule. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
